1
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[New York Close Up]

2
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[Ruby Sky Stiler, Artist]

3
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[Daniel Gordon, Artist]

4
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[GORDON] We started grad school at the same
time.

5
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Ruby was in sculpture, and I was in photo--

6
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and had a big crush on her.

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[STILER] And then, it took us a little while,

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because we were both really shy.

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[GORDON] But from the time that we got together,

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we've just been together.

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[STILER] This makes Danny's glue gun look
kind of lame, right?

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[GORDON] I don't know, I mean I...

13
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Works for me.

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[Danny and Ruby are married.]

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[GORDON] I mean, art is so much of our life,

16
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so, you know, art is the personal.

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I kind of did some new things.

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Like this vase was...

19
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is just leaning slightly to the right--

20
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which I don't mind,

21
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but I just started to worry that

22
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it was something that would annoy somebody
else.

23
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So, I'm texting Ruby

24
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without letting her know exactly what I'm
concerned with,

25
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So that, if she sees it,

26
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and she says, "I don't like that,"

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I would probably remake the picture.

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[STILER] That's one thing that Danny...

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I think Danny and I do really well together,

30
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is give each other really no-frills feedback.
[LAUGHS]

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[GORDON] Oh shit.

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Hmm.

33
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[STILER] So, here's the picture that I was
going to show you.

34
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Can you see that?

35
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Look at all those babies.

36
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Oh, here you can see.

37
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See that baby?

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That's mine.

39
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And that's Danny.

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He's cute, right?

41
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But it's not just looks with him--

42
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it's the whole package.

43
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[LAUGHS]

44
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["Daniel Gordon and Ruby Sky Stiler Take Baby
Steps"]

45
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[Gus Stiler Gordon, Baby]

46
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[GORDON] Before Gus was born...

47
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[STILER] Typical studio day...

48
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We would wake up at 9, then...

49
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[GORDON] Well, unless I went surfing.

50
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And then studio,

51
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which could be anywhere from 2 to,

52
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you know, 8 hours.

53
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Or 10 hours.

54
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[STILER] We do a lot of stuff at night, too.

55
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[GORDON] And then, yeah,

56
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drinks with friends, or dinner.

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[STILER] Make love for hours.

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[GORDON, LAUGHING] Make love for hours.

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[GUS LAUGHS]

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[GORDON] Yeah, that is funny!

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And, up we go!

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[KISSING SOUNDS]

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[STILER] We're ambitious,

64
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and we want to accomplish things.

65
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And, for years, we've been like,

66
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"Well, you know, we really don't know about
having a kid,"

67
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"because neither one of us wants to give up
anything."

68
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That was a big thing for us.

69
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And then, we realized, like,

70
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"Fuck this conversation."

71
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Like, this is like, not something we can control.

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[GORDON] Yeah, let's just... let's...

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Whatever.

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We'll see what happens.

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[STILER] Yeah.

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[Gowanus, Brooklyn]

77
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[STILER] I'm so completely obsessed with my
work.

78
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There's this mythology that

79
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you have to sacrifice everything to be a good
mom.

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At least that's the one that I inherited.

81
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You know, so I think that there was, like,

82
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a lot of extra guilt for me,

83
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that I was choosing to take myself out of...

84
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out of Gus's daily life.

85
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And that was my decision.

86
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And then also, guilt that I really wanted
to go back to my studio.

87
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[STILER] Hi, guys!

88
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[GORDON] You're going to stain all of them?

89
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[STILER] Yeah, but there is something about
the staining

90
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that brings out...

91
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I mean, this sounds really quaint when I say
it,

92
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but it brings out, like, the...

93
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[GUS COUGHS]

94
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[STILER] You okay?

95
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[GORDON] You okay?

96
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[KISSING SOUNDS]

97
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[STILER] I remember, when Danny went back
to work, everyone would be like,

98
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"Oh my God, you're an amazing dad."

99
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"You took six weeks off; that's so cool."

100
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And he was getting, like, a lot of positive
feedback.

101
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And then when I went back to work--at three
months--to my studio,

102
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I remember so many comments like this one:

103
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"That must be so hard."

104
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I had a lot more fear and anxiety about losing
my identity,

105
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and losing the things that I've managed to
accomplish so far--

106
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and, like, my small foothold in being an artist
that's working.

107
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And Danny didn't have that kind of anxiety.

108
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But, I think I was afraid I wouldn't be a
good enough mom.

109
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Whenever I would talk to women of a different
generation--

110
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of an older generation--

111
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the response would be like,

112
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"Well maybe you need to rethink your life
right now."

113
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As opposed to what I really needed, which
was reinforcement--

114
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that I was not, like, fucking up my baby

115
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and, you know, being selfish.

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But I don't know, Daniel,

117
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I mean, did you ever have any guilty feeling
going back?

118
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Because I remember you blasted out of here.

119
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[GORDON] I was conflicted, I think,

120
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when I first went back to work.

121
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When there's less time, you just have to be
more thoughtful

122
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about how you spend it.

123
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Even though it's maybe...

124
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there's less available time,

125
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I haven't got less done.

126
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I really haven't.

127
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[We are currently closed for installation.
Daniel Gordon's exhibition "Screen Selections and Still Lifes" opens Thursday, October 30th...]

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[GORDON] Is it ready?

129
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[WALLSPACE, Chelsea]

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Yeah, I mean, like...

131
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You know...

132
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I want them to read as individual works, but...

133
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[STILER] But was this a decision, their spacing here?

134
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Because this feels kind of...

135
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[GORDON] Yeah. Yeah.

136
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[STILER] I think it looks so great.

137
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[GORDON] Cool. You do?

138
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[STILER] Mmm hmm. I love it.

139
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I love it.

140
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[GORDON] But, honestly, now having Gus,

141
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it's such a pleasure and a relief

142
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to have some other thing that's very important,

143
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that pulls you away from all that stuff.

144
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You know, you can't obsess and take care of
Gus;

145
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you have to obsess about Gus,

146
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and then you can obsess about the other stuff,

147
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or whatever, you know,

148
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like it's really nice to have

149
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just this whole other amazing part.

150
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It's not about art;

151
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it's just about... I don't know...

152
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it's about...

153
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Life and love and family

154
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and all that good stuff.

155
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[STILER] And, you know, eventually a studio
assistant.

156
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[GORDON] Yeah, small hand labor as well, which...

157
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[LAUGHING]

158
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I think that will come into play in a couple
of years, so...

159
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[STILER] Okay, but don't be mad at me, okay
sweetie?

160
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Alright?

161
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[GORDON] What's this?

162
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Because I've been wondering all this time!

163
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You got your pants all dirty, crazy guy.